Lighter



July 4, 1950 R. G. INGERSOLL I 2,514,066

LIGHTER Filed April 2, 1948 IN V EN TOR.

Faker? aim/ 875022 y f W Patented July 4, 1950 U NI TED S TAT ES PATENTI F Fl CE 12,514,066 {LIGHTER Robert G.' Ingersoll, HillsdaleQMichQApplication April 2, 1948, Serial No;18,730

'G'CIaims. '1 '.This inventionrelates to-an improved. construction oflightervandv more particularlyto "a lighter especially adapted forlighting pipes and which is so constructedthat it is no larger than aconventional cigarette lighter and'of approximately the same weight.

Another object'of" the invention is to provide a pipe lighter whichcanbevery conveniently carried' in a pocket "and which'will'besubstantially windproof and capable of'being easily handled "andoperated withpne hand for" lighting a pipe.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lighter which is readilyadaptable for'use in lighting cigarsor cigarettes butwhich, due'to itsconstruction, is-especially applicable for light- 'ing'pipes and willenable the flame from the lighter wick to be drawn directly-to the pipebow-1.

a lighter of extremely--simple construction 'ca- =pable of #beingeconomically manufactured-and sold and-which will be very: eflicient anddurable i for its intended purpose.

' Variousother objects and vadvantages'of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparentirom the following description-of the drawing,illustrating apresently preferred embo'dimenti thereof,-'..and swherein:

"Figure 1 is a plani view look-ing toward one :izside f the' ligh Figure'2 is an enlargedndiametrical sectional view taken substantially. along1 a .plane as indicated by the: line 2- -2 of Figurerl;

' Figure 3 isa plan view looking .towardrthe inner side of onersection'ofthe'lighter and with the other section thereof removed, and

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the lighter taken substantially along aplane :as indicated .bythe line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Referring more specifically to the drawing: the novel pipe lighter inits entirety is designated generally 5 and comprises an annular bodydesignated generally 6 composed ofv anannularfemale section land anannular. malesection 8,

as best illustrated inFigures 2- and. Thebody sections land S areprovided with correspondingly shaped side walls 9 and with correspondinginner annular walls Hl which extend inwardly with respect to one anotherfrom the inneredges ofithe side walls} and which walls H] are disposedwiththe'ir innerffreeze'dges in abutting r '52 v engagement, as seeninlFigure 2, when the lighter body 6 is assembled. -The.femalersection'l' is provided with anouter annular wall l l which'isinternally recessed and them'ale section'8 is, prowalls-9, as bestseenin Figures 'Z'and 4, are curved radially andare externally'convex sothat said walls 9 converge 'from their inner toward'their outer edgesorfromthe'innerwalls "llltowa-rd theouter wallsi ll rand'l2 'soi'thatthe 'bodyliis substantially thicker at .its central opening I 0 than atits outer'edge l I, I2.

"The side wallf'9 of the-female section 1 is'provided with aninwardlyffianged, internally threaded opening 13 forminga'fillingopeningand which communicates with a chamber "14 "of the body6. The 'filling opening [3 is normally closed by a threaded'p'lug I 5."As-bestseen in "Figure-3, the'body sectional and -8 are provided withcorresponding internal walls -I 6 and l I having adjacent ends whichmerge-with portions of the inner walls =l-0"arrd -outer= edges which"merge with'theouter-wa-lls l-l 'an'd l2. 'The'walls l fi and-l1 'ofthesection '8-*only are illustrated but it will be readily apparentthatthesection "I is provided with corresponding walls which *are adapted toabut 'against the walls It and I 1 of 1 the section Bwhen the body 6 isassembled :and which walls l6 and l' I 'l to 'combine' with. portions:ofthe inner 'wallsilfleandithe-walls ll and l-2 to 'iormthechamberel'll whicl'r is adapted to be filled "with cotton :or' otherabsorbing'material l8 and which also contains awick =19 one enclvof-which projects through :anepening-ZU formed. by semicircular notches intheinner edges of thewalls Ill. It will thusbereadily apparent that oneend of the wick-20 extends into the central opening I0, id of the body6, for a purpose which will hereinafter become apparent.

The body sections -and8 at points remoteto the filling "opening l3=and'out :of communication with the fuel chamber M, are providedwithcorresponding recesses Yformingoa chamber 2| having a restrictedopeningcommunicatingwith the central opening 10,170 and a larger outer open endwhich opensoutwardly of the wallsll an'd'IZ. The chamber"2l'is ofarcuate shape and is adapted to contain aiconventional fiint or sparkingwheel22"whichf is 'rotatably disposed therein and journaledon..ia;shaftfiwhi'ch ex- .tion of the tube 26, 2G.

3 tends through aligned openings 24 and 25 in the body sections 1 and 8.The shaft 23 is applied to the opening 24, then through a centralopening of the wheel 22 and is provided with a threaded leading end forengagement with threads of the opening 25 to retain said shaft in anapplied position. The opening 24 is unthreaded and sufficiently large topermit the threaded leading end of the shaft 23 to pass therethrough. Asseen in Figure 2, the, outer end portion of the opening 2 1 is slightlyenlarged to seat the enlarged slotted head of the shaft 23 and whichcooperates with the threaded opposite end and the threaded opening 25for detachably retaining the body sections 1 and 3 connected, so thatsaid shaft 23 not only journals the striking wheel 22 but alsodetachably retains the lighter body 6 assembled.

The body sections 1; and 3 are provided with corresponding wall portions26 of arcuate cross section which combine to form a tub One end screw 29which is provided with a knurled head and which engages the threadedouter end por- It will be readily apparent and as best illustrated inFigure 3, that when the striking wheel 22 is manually revolved in acounter-clockwise direction that the sparks struck fromthe flint 21 bythe frictional contact of the flint and wheel will be directed into thecentral opening or passage l0, l and toward the end of the wick l9 whichis disposed within said passage for igniting the wick. As clearlyillustrated inFigures l, 2 and 3, a sufficient portion of the strikingwheel 22 projects outwardly from the periphery of the .lighter body 6 tobe engaged by the thumb of the hand in which the lighter is held forrotating the wheel 22 for igniting the wick I9, as just previouslydescribed. It will also be readily-apparent that the central "bore 10,I0 will provide a chimney adapted to be disposed directly over and incommunication with the bowl of a pipe, not shown, so that when the wicki9 is ignited the user by drawing on the pipe may draw the flamefrom thewick into the pipe bowl for lighting the tobacco due to the downdraftthrough said chimney Ill toward the pipe bowl. It will also bereadilyapparent that the lighter 5 mum of .a convenient size to be carried inthe pocket and dueto its over-all shape will not be bulky and isrelatively light and may be constructed to weigh no more than aconventional cigarette lighter. It will also be readily apparent thatthe lighter 5 can be utilized for lighting cigars and cigarettes withoutmodification.

The lighter 5 preferably contains a closure or shutter for the chimneyl3 and the exposed portion of the wick l9, when not in use and for thispurpose is provided with an internal chamber 30 through which the innerend of the tube 26, 26 extends and which is adapted to contain twodisk-shaped shutters 3| which are disposed one on either side of thetube 26, 26 as best illustrated in Figure 4. The chamber 30 is disposedsubstantially opposite to the fuel chamber l4 and opens into the chimneyl0 and which is recessed as seen at 32 on its exposed side to ac- 4commodate the shutters 3| when said shutters are moved into the passagein for closing said passage on either side of the wick IS, The shutters3| are connected by an elongated, substantially U-shaped strip 33 theends of which are formed integral with portions of the shutters 3| andthe corresponding legs of which extend outwardly through the chamber 2|and straddle the wheel 22. Said legs of the strip 33 are provided withaligned openings 34 through which the shaft 23 loosely extends and theintermediate or bight portion 35 of the strip 33 and which is disposedsubstantially at right angles to the legs thereof is seen in Figure 3,the shutters 3| are shown in positions for exposing the chimney l3 andwick i9 and after use of the lighter 5, as previously described, thethumb which was employed for rotating the wheel 22 can be utilized toengage the bight portion 35 to swing the strips 33 and shutters 3| in acounterclockwise direction on the shaft 23 for moving the shutters intothe chimney l3 and with portions of the peripheries thereof inengagement with the recess 32 for closing said chimney on either side ofthe wick i9. When it is again desired to use the lighter 5, the thumb isinitially utilized to engage the bight portion to swing the shuttersclockwise to their opened position of Figure 3 after which the thumb isthen employed to turn the wheel 22 in the opposite direction orcounter-clockwise as previously described for igniting the wick.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously beresorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventionas hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A lighter comprising an annular body having a central openingextending therethrough defining a chimney, said body having an internalcompartment forming a fuel chamber, a wick disposed within said fuelchamber and having an end projecting therefrom into said chimney, saidbody having a wheel chamber therein circumferentially spaced from saidfuel chamber and opening into the chimney and outwardly of the peripheryof the body, a flint Wheel rotatably disposed in said wheel chamberhaving a portion protruding from the periphery of the lighter body, saidbody having a tubular portion opening into the wheel chamber andcontaining a flint for engaging the periphery of the flint wheel anddisposed so that the sparks therefrom will be directed into the chimneyand toward the end of the wick contained therein when said wheel isrevolved in one direction.

2. A lighter as in claim 1, and closure means swingably supported in thelighter body and movable into and out of engagement with said chimneyfor enclosing the exposed end of the wick therebetween when said closuremeans is disposed in the chimney.

3. A lighter as in claim 1, and closure means swingably supported in thelighter body and movable into and out of engagement with said chimneyfor enclosing the exposed end of the Wick therebetween when said closuremeans is disposed in the chimney, said closure means havbody andconcentrically to a portion of the flint wheel and adapted to bemanually actuated for moving the closure means into and out ofengagement with the chimney.

4. A lighter as in claim 1, said lighter body being formed of separableannular body sections.

5. A lighter as in claim 1, said lighter body being formed of separableannular body sections, and a shaft extending through the wheel chamberfor journaling the flint wheel and detachably connecting the bodysections.

6. A lighter as in claim 1, said lighter body being formed of separableannular body sections and a shaft extending through the wheel chamberfor journaling the flint wheel and detachably connecting the bodysections, said closure means 15 bein pivotally mounted on said shaft.

ROBERT G. INGERSOLL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in th file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,239,801 McAneny Sept. 11, 19171,948.186 Pepper Feb. 20, 1934 2,196,879 Trollen Apr. 9, 1940 102,432,265 Ward Dec. 9, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 140,155Great Britain Mar. 25, 1920 222,752 Great Britain Oct. 9, 1924 236,569Germany July 8, 1911 347,209 Germany Jan. 16, 1922

